Encyclopedia of Religions - In Three Volumes Vol. III: N-Z: 3

From a decree of Charlemagne in 789 A.C. we see that human sacrifices were still common in his barbarous empire. especially among pagan Saxons. They did not begin to die out till the 9th century. Unable to prevent the sacrifice of cattle at ancient shrines Gregory I (600 A.C.) instructed his missionaries that these were to be offered up to God and to Christ at the new churches which often were the old sacred circles... -from sacrifice This 1906 classic of comparative literature hard to find in print today was the first English-language project to approach the worlds religions from an anthropological perspective. The work of thirty years for Scottish author JAMES G. R. FORLONG (1824-1904) it was originally published under the now-antiquated title A Cyclopedia of Religions and produced at the authors own expense so strongly did he feel about the need for it despite the reluctance of the publishing houses of the day to produce it. A road engineer by trade Forlong traveled the world learning seven languages and becoming an avid amateur student of native culture-his labor of love was gathering in this three-volume set a comprehensive academic knowledge of the totality of human religious belief. Volume III: N-Z includes entries on such gods peoples places practices symbols and concepts as: - Naaman naga oaths and Odin - pagoda Pantheism and Quakers - Ra runes Shin-to and Sophists - talisman Tertullian unicorn and Upanishads - vana wells Yggdrasil and Zeus - and much more.